


Shadows of the Broken

by InnerGlow11



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Genre: Angst, Blood and Torture, Broken Bones, Brotherly Bonding, Burns, Electrocution, Gen, Healthy Conversations, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Lorule (Legend of Zelda), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Siblings, Stabbing, and what better place to do that than in lorule :D, frostnip, good to get some weight off their chests, mauling, my gosh do I love that tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-02-23 12:41:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23678260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InnerGlow11/pseuds/InnerGlow11
Summary: Wind and Twilight end up in a desolate world and have to find a way back to the others.
Relationships: Twilight & Wind (Linked Universe)
Comments: 30
Kudos: 104





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to moonsamurai on the LU discord, I got an idea and my brain ran with it. The amount of chapters is kinda just a loose guess as to what I'll have, so it's still very much subject to change. And I very much feel like I need a beta for this cause it's kinda rough so if anyone is willing please let me know. Also, because I feel that it's rough, I'm going to have a decent amount change. Not enough that it'll affect the overall story, but enough that it'll be noticeable as I'm editing, so if you were there for the live write you could read this and find things that weren't there before. Thanks for checking this out, hope you enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Has now been edited by my beta and updated._

Twilight's blade swung through the air and sliced into flesh, making the bokoblin screech in pain before he cut it off with another slash. He panted, sweat trickling down his face. These infected monsters were so much harder to kill than before and it sucked. It made him feel like he wasn't able to fight very well anymore and it was frustrating. He was pretty sure everyone else felt the same. A shout from Wind had him looking over and catching sight of a familiar figure. It was the black lizalfos, and Wind was chasing after it. He ran over, knowing the boy couldn't take it on on his own. The lizalfos looked back at them, it's eye narrowing, before it turned and started running in a different direction. He was confused for a moment, but then he saw it.

There was a portal hidden in the trees. The jerk was trying to get away! Wind seemed to spy it too and they both ran faster, trying to reach him before he could get away. If they could just get rid of this guy-! It'd just about reached the portal, but he thrust his blade out anyways, hoping to maybe cut into the creature and stop him. The tail moved out of the way just in time. Wait, no, it wasn't just the lizalfos moving it's tail, the monster had jumped out of the way, and he only had a second to look at it's grinning face before his and Wind's momentum had them tumbling through the portal.

He landed with an “oof”, then looked up to see just where they'd ended up. And was shocked to find that everything was dark and desolate. He sat there stunned. Sure, some of their Hyrules had been kinda depressing, but not like this. This looked like a dead world. And he was sure this wasn't any Hyrule they'd been to yet. So where could they be? Based on that grin the lizalfos had given them, he was sure they weren't anywhere good. Picking himself up and dusting off, he looked over to see Wind looking around stunned as well. Twilight offered his hand to him and asked, "Are you alright?" Wind glanced at his hand, taking it and rising to his feet, then shook his head absentmindedly and replied, "Yeah, I'm good. But where are we?"

Twilight shrugged and said, "I have no idea, but it doesn't look like any of the Hyrules we've been to." Wind nodded and looked around again. It sure was a sight to take in. It almost reminded him of the Twilight Realm, but less shadowy beauty and more despairing wasteland. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he sighed and said, "Well, we should probably see what we can find out about this place and see if there's any way to get back to the others." He glanced ruefully back at where the portal had been. He didn't like being separated from the others like this, but he was glad he'd chased after the lizalfos too so Wind wasn't here alone.

With a nod from Wind, they started forward. And the more they walked, the more creeped out Twilight was. The air here felt stale and dead. This place honestly looked like the kind of place one of them would save, so why hadn't anyone come to help them yet? He looked over at Wind and his heart nearly stopped.

"Wind!" The boy took his eyes off the landscape to look at him as his hand shot out and gripped the sailor's shirt. Wind looked at him in shock and confusion, opening his mouth to say something, but then looked alarmed as his foot hit open air and he jerked forward, Twilight's grip being the only thing keeping him from tumbling into the deep abyss below him. Twilight yanked him back and away from the chasm. That had been too close. Giving themselves a moment for their hearts to stop pounding, they sighed in relief and Wind breathed out, "Thanks."

Twilight gave a small smile and said in an equally shook voice, "Any time."

Then they were on their way again. To where, he had no clue, especially with all these canyons that seemed to just be bottomless pits. Where could they possibly be? This was starting to get unnerving. He didn't want to be here any longer than he needed to be. Then he heard a snap behind him and they both spun around quickly. All they saw was a large backpack. Until they looked closer and suddenly realized the backpack was on a man. The young man seemed to be inspecting something on the ground and mumbling to himself, then moved again and there was another crunch of dried plant life. Twilight and Wind glanced at each other. What was this guy doing here? Though to be honest, Twilight didn't really care what he was doing. He was more excited by the prospect of finding someone that might be able to help them, or at least tell them where they were.

Approaching the man, he called out, "Hey."

The man's head jerked up and looked at him with alarm, before his expression turned wary. Twilight was able to get a good look at the young man now and would say he was around his own age, though definitely shorter, with glasses and poofy brown hair. He smiled at the stranger and said, "We're kinda lost. Do you think you could tell us where we are?"

The man glanced between them for a moment, before mostly relaxing and saying, "Yeah, with how things have been going in Lorule recently I'm not surprised you've gotten lost. First the world's falling apart, then it's trying to put itself back together. Makes it awful hard to find your way around, especially if you don't travel much, but it's still difficult even if you do travel."

He glances at their swords and Twilight gets the point, replying, "We haven't really been to this area before, so we've kinda gotten turned around."

Which wasn't technically a lie; not only had they not been to this area before, but they also hadn't been to this world. Which was possibly called Lorule, from what the man was saying. The man was still a bit wary, but he seemed to accept what he'd said and moved on.

"Well, unfortunately for you, I don't really know my way around either. I was just coming out to see if my plant grew." He frowned at whatever it was he'd been messing with on the ground. The man stood up and smiled at them, finishing, "But there might be a map at my house that you could use."

"Might be?" Twilight asked. How could he not know if he had one? The man looked sheepish and said, "Well, it's not really my house, it's just my master's. I'm looking after it while he's gone."

Suddenly, his eyes sparked with energy and he turned to them in excitement, asking, "Hey, do you guys know Yuga?"

Twilight and Wind looked at each other in confusion, then turned back and shook their heads. The man deflated and said, "Oh."

But he perked right back up and replied, "Well, then I'll have to tell you about him! He's the most amazing artist in the world! You should see his masterpieces, they're spectacular."

He suddenly turns around and starts walking away.

"Hey!" Twilight calls, but the man only glances back and calls, "Well c'mon! Let's get going! It's not far!"

Glancing down at Wind, the boy shrugs at him, just as lost. He sighs, then goes to follow the man with Wind on his heels. It really doesn't take them that long to come upon a house, a honestly rather nice one at that, and go inside. Inside does not match outside. It's grand, for sure, but it's an absolute mess. There's books, paper, and colored splotches everywhere. The man looks sheepish again and says, "Ah, excuse the mess. I wasn't expecting anyone and was experimenting with a new art style. I found it in one of my master's books and it looked interesting so I wanted to give it a shot but... Well, let’s just say it's not the cleanest form of art, but it is fun."

He gestured towards something and Twilight looked over to see a paper covered in colored splotches. It looked like a mess to him, but Wind gasped and exclaimed, "Wow! You made that? It's so cool!"

The man smirked and said, "Yeah, it is pretty cool. It's called splatter painting. All you do is flick paint at a paper until you're satisfied, but I think it's pretty."

"That sounds like so much fun! Do you think I could try it too mister?"

The man looks a little hesitant there, pausing before saying, "Uh, I'm not sure. Maybe if I found a brush I was ok with you using? Oh, and it seems I forgot to introduce myself. So sorry about that. The name's Sam."

He offered out his hand and Twilight grabs it, replying, "I'm Twilight, and this is my brother, Wind."

"Twilight and Wind, eh? Interesting names."

Twilight shrugs, "What can I say, our parents liked the outdoors."

Sam snorts and says, "That's surprising, seeing how the world is these days. But speaking of that, I was supposed to see if I could get you guys a map. Now let's see, where could one be?"

Then the man gets down on the ground and starts shuffling through all the books and paper. Twilight groans. This could take so long. He looks over at Wind, who seems a bit miffed that he won't be painting just yet, and says, "Why don't we help him?"

The boy nods and Twilight turns back to Sam, saying, "Why don't we help you clean the place up? That way it won't be a mess and we can try and find it at the same time."

Sam looks up at him in surprise, then grins and replies, "If you're willing, that'd be great!"

Twilight nods, then gets down and starts picking up papers, looking them over before putting them in piles. This was probably going to take a while.

* * *

"And then, this giant squid came out of the water and attacked!" Wind said, raising his arms to show it. Sam chuckled. This boy sure liked to tell stories. He wondered if the boy's parents had told them to him. Maybe they'd even passed down the stories from the times when there had been oceans to sail. He can tell from Twilight's fond look that this is a story he's told several times. Good to see at least someone is happy in their messed up world. He tunes out the boy when he turns to Twilight and continues telling the story. He has papers to clean up and he wants to help the two. Though to be honest, he's kinda glad he met them. He hasn't met anyone like them in a long time. Most people had gone monster crazy.

It was one reason he'd admired Yuga so much. He'd given them beauty with his art in their broken world. And though Yuga hadn't ever really paid any attention to him, he knew that Yuga was the only master for him. So he'd declared himself the artist's apprentice and followed everything the man did. Until he disappeared. He'd come back occasionally, but then he'd just stopped even doing that and Sam had gotten worried. So he'd come to Yuga's house and waited. And waited. And waited. But the man never came back. To be honest, he was beginning to lose hope that the man was ever going to come back.

Then his hand touched a well worn book. It didn't seem to fit with the rest. Curious, he opened the book. And stared at it for a moment. It was Yuga's journal. It was his journal. How had he missed this the first time?! Excited to find out more, he flipped to a random page and read.

_My plan is coming together. The princess knows nothing. I'm gathering everything I need. But everything would go so much smoother if this annoying blonde boy would stop getting in my way. And what's with him wearing all this green? Not only is it an ugly shade of green, it's just about the only color he's wearing! Honestly, he needs more color in there._

Sam freezes. Then he glances up. Twilight was wearing green. And he had blonde hair, although it was a dirty blonde. ...Could his master have been talking about him? Why would Twilight get in his master's way? The man had only ever helped spread color and joy through Lorule. Why would he wanna stop that?

Sam went on to the next entry.

_I've finally gathered everything together, even with that boy in the way. The princess still suspects nothing, the fool. I'll soon revive Ganon and then I'll have enough power to recreate both worlds in my image. It'll be beautiful!_

In his image? Sam tried to imagine it. He knew Yuga's paintings like the back of his hand. So all he could imagine were all the colors and life that would cover the world. It was simply breathtaking. He suddenly wanted so desperately for Yuga to do it, even though it seemed like he'd be betraying the princess. It'd be worth it to live in a world of beauty. He quickly flipped to the next page. Only to find it blank. Confused, he flipped through the last few pages to see if he'd just missed it. But no. There was nothing. What could that mean? Glancing back up at Twilight, he studied him further. He seemed like he was physically fit and looked to have the tools to fight. For the journal to just cut off... And the world still not be beautiful... Twilight really had gotten in his master's way, hadn't he? What had he done to his master to stop him? Was that why his master.... had disappeared? He felt a sudden, terrible anger start boiling in his gut. Had Twilight actually used that sword on his master and stopped his plan? Had he really ruined everything? Their chance to not live in a world like this any longer? He'd been wrong, these boys couldn't possibly be good people. They were just like the others, no, worse than the others. While the others were people wanting to be monsters, they were monsters masquerading as people. He could not allow this.

Sam took a deep breath. This was not the time to get angry. He'd do something about the brothers. He just needed to come up with a plan first. His stomach grumbled then, drawing attention to himself. The brothers smiled at him, and he felt sick as he smiled back and laughed, a plan forming as he said, "Didn't realize it was so late. Why don't I make us some food? And you guys can stay over if you want, since it's getting late."

Wind looked excited at the prospect of food and Twilight smiled at him, saying, "Thank you, that'd be really nice."

He got up, keeping his fake smile on his face until he was in the kitchen. Oh, he'd give them food alright. But... should he really just let them go like that? When his master had probably suffered when he died? No, that'd be too easy, too simple a death for them. He now understood why Yuga had all these dangerous things in his house. This world was full of terrible people, and he'd needed to defend himself. Now, Sam would avenge him.

Sam started the fire under the stove, heating up a pot and adding ingredients as he stewed. He couldn't believe someone would kill Yuga. Yuga. The best person in Lorule. The man had given him hope when he'd felt ready to give up and then someone had just killed him. This wasn't right. This wasn't fair. Why did the world have to be like this? When would all the pain stop? He knew the princess had somehow done something to start fixing the world. Had she taken whatever power Yuga had left after... after... after he was gone and used that to start helping the world? He smiled at that. That would be fitting, Yuga at least helping to fix things where he could. He felt a wetness on his cheeks and suddenly realized that he'd been crying. He wiped his arm over his face and took a deep breath. He couldn't focus on that now. He had to do something about those murderers. Going to the special cabinet, he picked out a potion that seemed it would serve his needs and set it off to the side. Once the food was finished, he poured it in bowls and put the potion in two of them, then called out, "Food's ready!"

He carried their two bowls first, taking them over to the table as Wind ran over and instantly started eating while Twilight calmly followed. Then he returned to the kitchen and grabbed his own bowl, coming out and seeing that Twilight had taken a bite as well. He sat down and smiled at them, a genuine one this time. They'd made their last mistake. He said, "You two sure seem hungry."

Wind just gave a quick nod then went back to his food. Twilight snorted at Wind, then replied, "Yeah, we've had some taxing experiences recently, so this is great. Thank you."

Sam dipped his head and said, "Ah, it was nothing. No need to say thanks."

Then he went and started eating his own food, waiting. He wasn't surprised when Wind finished his food then promptly yawned. Twilight smiled fondly at him and Sam felt that disgust momentarily rise up in him again. How could he care for Wind when he was so evil? It was further evidence that Wind was just as bad as his brother. He forced himself to smile and said, "Why don't you lay down? I don't really have any other beds, unfortunately, but the couches are pretty comfy."

Wind nodded and immediately got up, swaying a bit on his feet, before clumsily going over and flopping onto the couch. One down, one to go. And he didn't have to wait too long for Twilight to finish his food and start yawning as well. The green clad man rubbed his eyes and said, "I think I'm going to bed too. Thank you for the meal."

"Of course. Good night."

Then Twilight was asleep as well. And now he could make them pay.

Getting up, he walked over to them... then realized he had no idea what to do next. He knew he wanted them to suffer. He knew he wasn't going to let them leave alive. But how he was going to do that, that was the question. He'd been so preoccupied with his grief that he'd forgotten to keep planning. He cursed himself. Now what? He huffed in frustration and leaned back on a bookshelf. Only to feel something give, hear a click, and have it fall out from under him. He shrieked as he fell backwards, flinging his hands out for something, anything to grab onto. As his hand hit wood, he gripped it instantly and halted his fall. He looked around in shock. The bookshelf had swung open like a door. He was holding onto the railing of stairs going down into a basement. Curious, he followed it and was surprised to find what looked like a jail cell at the end, with two sets of cuffs on the walls and a desk outside of it. What could this possibly be for? He supposed it didn't matter right now, for he could try and find out later. For now, this was perfect…


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone that read the last chapter before it was fully edited, I am so sorry. I had accidentally posted it before I'd finished editing but decided I'd just finish editing it real quick so it'd be no big deal. Then I got pulled away from a few hours instead, so it was sitting there looking like a mess for a while. So I'm very sorry you had to deal with that, but it's all fixed up now. Thank you for giving it a try even with it looking like that.
> 
> Also, if you see anything that needs fixing, feel free to let me know. I'm always looking to improve. ^^
> 
> Song listened to while writing this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WaXX7F-sNc
> 
> _Has now been edited by my beta and updated._

As he drifted out of sleep, the first thing he noticed was that his shoulders ached. The second thing he noticed was that his arms felt kind of numb. The third thing he noticed was that it was cold. ...Had he fallen off the couch and slept on his arms wrong? Coming back to consciousness, he groggily opened his eyes and was met with the sight of bars. Startling to full awareness, he realized they were in a cell. Looking up confirmed that his arms were cuffed above him. He heard a groan to his side and looked to see Wind there too. He cursed. What had happened? Hadn't they fallen asleep on Sam's couch? Where could they be now? He shivered from the cold, the chill on his back making him look down and realize most of his layers were missing, as well as his gear. A quick glance back at Wind confirmed that he was missing his equipment too. Wind came awake and hurriedly looked around as well.  
  
"Hey," Twilight said, making the boy look at him, "You alright?"  
  
"Yeah," the boy replied distractedly, going back to looking around before continuing, "But where are we?"  
  
The creaking of a door turned their heads in that direction. At the top of a short flight of stairs on the other side of the small room, a door had just opened. As Twilight heard footsteps coming, he prepared himself to confront their captor. But nothing could have prepared him for the face that accompanied those steps.  
  
"Sam?!" he blurted out in shock. Wind's mouth just hung open, the sailor speechless. The artist turned to look at them, but the kind smiles he'd had for them earlier were gone, and in its place was a glare full of anger. He couldn't understand. What was going on? The man finished coming into the room and walked over to the desk beside their cell, going through it's contents, before grabbing a book and sitting down in the chair facing them. He opened the book, and Twilight was about to spit something else out when Sam finally started talking.  
  
"Ya know, I've found a lot of interesting things lately," he started, casually flipping through the book as he talked, "My master has a lot of things on art upstairs, but did you know he was also a magician? He wanted to make magic an art. So he used this room to do so. Of course, he wanted to perfect this magic, so he had to do a few experiments. It seems that's why he had this cell installed. And, according to his notes, he completed his research and made beautiful magic. But his research made him realize that there was so much more he could do with this art magic he'd created. He noticed the desolation around us, that Lorule had become an ugly world, and was determined to make it beautiful again, just like the elder's tales said it once was. So he teamed up with the princess and used her plan to further his own. Is this story ringing any bells?"  
  
At this, he stopped looking through the book and glared up at them, his anger palpable. And while Twilight felt a shiver go down his spine at the dangerous atmosphere, he was honestly more confused than anything. Why was Sam telling him this? Seeing their confusion, Sam's face hardened even more as he continued, "He went to a parallel kingdom called Hyrule and got everything he needed to awaken Ganon. He planned to use the beast's power and Hyrule's Triforce to make the world beautiful, but along the way a blonde boy wearing green clothes wouldn't stop getting in his way. From how much trouble he made the boy sound like, I'd assume that they confronted each other for the last time to see who would win. And then he disappeared. That sound familiar?"  
  
Twilight felt his stomach sink as the story continued and grimaced at what was implied. It must have been one of them then, for that sounded too familiar to not be a Link. Which one, he wasn't sure, for everyone but Wild was pretty secretive about what they'd gone through, but he was almost certain it was one of them. And Sam could see the realization on his face. Sam sneered, "So you do recognize that. It seems I was right after all. You are the one that confronted Yuga. And, from your expression, I'd guess killed him. Isn't that right?"  
  
"It wasn't us!" Wind yelled before Twilight had the chance to respond, "We have no idea who this Yuga guy is besides what you told us earlier! Now let us go!"  
  
Sam's glare hardened as he turned to Wind and spat, "I wasn't talking to you!"  
  
Sam’s harsh gaze returned to Twilight and he cautiously responded, "Look, I'm sure you're upset, but Wind's right. We had nothing to do with it. I'm sorry for your loss, but, honestly, do you even know who Ganon is? He's not a good guy, so for your master to try and bring him back... that's not really a good thing."  
  
" _SHUT UP!_ **You don't know what my master was like!** You never really knew him! So don't you dare try and justify your actions! Honestly, you expect me to believe you when you know who Ganon is? That's proof that you're the one!" Sam exploded at them, swiftly getting to his feet in anger.  
  
Suddenly, Sam paused and took a deep breath, which surprised Twilight. He'd expected the artist to lash out, not try and calm himself. But as he turned and grabbed something, the light shone off of the object and he felt his stomach sink. Sam turning back with a dangerous glint in his eye, a knife in his hand, was the nail in the coffin and he felt a prick of fear rise up. He held his breath as Sam came over, keys in his other hand, and unlocked the door. Twilight quickly glanced down at Wind, seeing fear clear as day on the boy's face. He felt his own expression harden and looked back at Sam. Whatever happened, he had to make sure the angry man didn't pay attention to Wind. He wouldn't let his little brother be hurt, especially when he was the one Sam blamed. With a sneer, Sam completely ignored Wind and went straight for him. Glaring up at their captor grimly, he watched as Sam stood there, glaring, before finally saying, "You're not even really sorry, are you?"  
  
Twilight didn't know how to reply. He didn't really get a chance to though as the angry glint turned crazed and the knife was stabbed down into his thigh.  
  
Even with all the fighting he'd done, all the wounds he'd gotten from enemies, it still was a shock to the system to have something stabbed into him. He heard Wind shout and tried to focus on that instead, the sailor cussing up a storm directed at his torturer. The sudden terrible burn of the knife being twisted had him yelling and Wind cussing even louder, the rattle of his chains audible as he tried to get at Sam. Sam ignored him in favor of focusing on Twilight, and whatever he saw made him smirk, before he pulled the blade out. Twilight breathed in his moment of respite before it was stabbed into his collarbone area, ripping another yell from him. Suddenly Sam was in his face and saying, "Hurts, doesn't it? Don't worry, I'm going to make sure this lasts a good long time. I'm sure you didn't let my master just die, no. You'd be the kind of people to make his death drawn out, wouldn't you?"  
  
Wind's shouts were starting to become background noise. Taking a moment to breath, hoping that this might somehow knock some sense into Sam, he weakly replied, "We would never kill anyone without a good reason. Whoever did it must have needed to."  
  
"LIAR!" Sam yelled and stabbed him there again, then pulled it out and said with venom, "You'll pay for saying that."  
  
Sam moved towards his face and Twilight suddenly panicked. He was not just going to let him near his face. As the lunatic reached forwards, Twilight brought his uninjured leg up between Sam's legs. The artist's shout of pain was so satisfying to hear and he couldn't help but smirk as the man stumbled out of reach. After taking a moment to recover, he glared up at them, Wind still laughing beside him.  
  
"SHUT UP!" he yelled at Wind, though the boy ignored him, and he turned to Twilight and said, "If you do that again, I'll start hurting someone easier."  
  
His amusement was replaced with sudden alarm and he glanced at Wind, before nodding. He would sit here and take it to keep him away from the boy. He heard Wind shout in protest but had tuned out the words as Sam approached with the knife again. This time, the artist didn't hesitate and grabbed his ear, then swiftly sliced. He screamed as pain exploded from it, though was then distracted from it by his forearm being stabbed. It took him a moment to recover from the pain, so he didn't notice that Sam was leaving until the gate was shut and locked. Why had he stopped? He didn't want more, but he hadn't expected it to stop just like that. Looking up at their captor, he could see the man mumbling to himself with a troubled expression as he made his way to the stairs and out of the room. He looked over at Wind in confusion and the boy just looked back at him with the same confusion, shrugging and saying, "He seemed troubled by something and just suddenly left."  
  
But then he glanced up at Twilight's ear and winced. He looked at the sailor questioningly and the boy looked reluctant, but said anyways, "Your ear... he took the tip off of it."  
  
Ah, so that's why it's hurt so much. He shifted, trying to get into a more comfortable position and wincing as he aggravated his wounds. He sighed as he finished moving and put his head back on the wall, trying to rest for a moment.  
  
"Hey."  
  
He looked at Wind from the corner of his eye. The boy was biting his lip, but decided to continue, "Are you ok?"  
  
Twilight chuckled. No, he was not ok. He wasn't sure what exactly was going on or what to do, but he wasn't going to show Wind that. The boy needed hope. And he was determined to get them out of this, somehow. Letting out a breath, he smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm ok."  
  
When Wind looked doubtful, he said, "Don't worry, we'll get out of here in no time then find the others. We'll be alright."  
  
That seemed to reassure Wind more and he relaxed. Twilight sighed and looked around, surprised to find that he quickly spotted their gear. It seemed Sam had dumped it all in a pile between the desk and the cell. It was like he was taunting them, having their gear in reach if only their arms weren't restrained. He growled. Sam was not who he'd thought he was. He shouldn't have let his guard down. But he had, and now he had to pay the consequences. Yet he'd make sure Wind got out of this. He was not going to let Wind be subjected to this if it was the last thing he did.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These first few chapters will be coming out as quickly as I'm editing them, since they're already written, but once I catch up with the stuff from my live writes you guys on AO3 will have to wait until I've written it and edited it. So you'll have to wait a bit longer to read it. The plus side of this is that it'll be cleaned up by the time you guys read it, so it won't be as wonky as it originally was.
> 
> I am still looking for a beta for anyone that is interested because I don't trust my eyes to catch all the things that need fixing.
> 
> And the song for this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tswnZTjAtm8
> 
> _Has now been edited by my beta and updated._

The door swung open and footsteps came into the room, drawing Twilight out of his uneasy sleep. His grogginess didn't last long when he saw Sam coming over to the desk, a book in his hand and his mouth moving. He must be talking to himself again. Twilight sighed. The last few days had been like this, Sam coming in with a book and muttering before he came in and lacklusterly stabbed him a few times, then left. It was surprising. While it was nice to not have it be as bad as the first day, it also put him on edge, like the calm before a storm. He couldn't help but feel this was only the precursor to something worse. And as Sam seemed to realize something and snapped his book shut, he felt like today might be the day that Sam got back into it. Sam turned to look at him, the dangerous look back in his eye as he went into their cell and came over to them. Glaring at him again, he spoke to them for the first time in days, "Where is it?"

...And it was that cryptic line. Sam seemed to see their confusion and sighed, elaborating, "The brush. Where's Yuga's brush?"

Twilight and Wind looked at each other, neither knowing what he was talking about, then shrugged in answer. Sam growled, "His magic brush! The one he made specifically for channeling his art magic!"

Twilight sighed and just gave him a deadpan look. If they hadn't known before, why would they know now? But of course, that didn't satisfy Sam and he narrowed his eyes and growled, "Fine, if you wanna do this the hard way..."

And the stabbing began again, though with more force behind the blows than the last few days. He went for some old wounds, which hurt, and he made a few new ones, but he seemed unsatisfied with Twilight's reactions. Finally, he stopped and said, "Tell me where it is, or you'll regret it. I need it to make this world beautiful."

He sounded kinda desperate at the end, but Twilight only had one answer, "I don't know where it is, I swear."

Sam sighed, as if he'd been expecting that answer, and said, "You just really don't want Yuga's plan to be fulfilled, right? You don't want our world to be beautiful again, do you? You're one of the people that like the world like this, aren't you? Well, I'll show you just how harsh this world can be then."

And before Twilight could do anything, Sam was grabbing his hand, holy crap Sam was fast when he wanted to be, and pushing it flush with the wall so he could stab right into the middle of his palm. A scream ripped from his throat and his ears rang as the pain rolled through him. His palm hurt. He'd had no idea getting stabbed there could be so painful. He looked up and saw Sam grinning like a maniac, obviously happy with his reaction. Seeing him looking, the lunatic smiled even wider and asked, "Are you ready to tell me now?"

He panted, "I... don't know.... where it is."

Sam sighed as if he was disappointed then said, "Very well then, we'll continue."

He moved down to his forearm and stabbed that again, causing him to scream, but it seemed that was only a distraction as we went to his other hand and stabbed that one as well. He went from one side to the other, continuing this as Twilight felt blood dripping down his arms and the pain began blurring together. He only came out of his trance when someone tapped his head. He looked up to see Sam, an impatient look on his face as he asked, "You ready to tell me?"

Twilight just stared at him for a moment, processing his question, then rasped, "Don't know magic brush."

Sam yelled and threw his knife down, grabbing his hair and cursing to himself. ....This guy wasn't all that patient when it came to answers, it seemed. That probably wasn't good.  
It took a moment for Sam to calm down, but once he had he went over and grabbed the knife, saying, "I'll get you to talk Twilight, you can be sure of that."

He approached Twilight's leg and said, "Remember when you kicked me? Well, let's make sure that doesn't happen again."

It took Twilight's foggy brain just a moment too long to understand what Sam was saying as he stabbed into his shin. The pain cut through the fog and made him shout again. Sam smirked, then pulled the knife out only to plunge it back in, over and over again. The pain had started dulling again when he decided to switch it up by stabbing his foot. He screeched as new pain flooded him. He didn't even have Wind's yelling to distract him, for the boy had stopped yelling days ago since all it did was hurt his throat and make him hoarse. But then Sam got up. He evaluated Twilight for a moment, before sighing and saying, "I'm not going to get anything out of you today, am I?"

Twilight's blank stare seemed to be all he needed in answer, so with a reluctant sigh he took his knife and left.

Twilight didn't know how much time had passed before he felt something bump his leg. It took him longer than he'd like to admit to look up and see Wind's concerned face there, his toe seeming to have been what bumped him.

"Twilight?"

That didn't sound like the first time he'd said his name. Was he really that out of it?

"Hm?"

Wind was watching him carefully, looking him over with trepidation as he asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Mm, hurt. But 'm fine."

"....I don't think you're fine Twi."

Twilight snorted. Or tried to, but it really just came out as a gust of air. He wanted to say something reassuring. But he just didn't have the energy. And everything hurt. It kinda reminded him of when he'd first turned into a wolf. That had hurt more and had hurt all throughout his body, but at least he'd passed out and then been ok. He much preferred that to still being awake with all this pain.

"Twilight?"

....Crap. Had he spaced out again? He didn't have the energy to reply so he just looked at the boy. Wind gulped and shakily asked, "Will.... will you stay awake?"

Twilight smiled bitterly at him and mustered up the energy to answer, "I will."

Wind smiled sadly, then tried scooting as close to him as possible, keeping their legs touching. Twilight did his best to scoot over too, but soon found himself exhausted and had to stop. Then they just sat there. Twilight was surprised when he heard steady breathing beside him and looked over to see Wind sleeping. He smiled. At least someone was getting some rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and after going through and editing this I realize that this one is pretty short. hadn't thought this one was that short but oh well.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song for this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR9pO2vIM4M
> 
> _Has now been edited by my beta and updated._

Wind was starting to get really worried about Twilight. At first he'd been a bit worried, but he'd figured Twilight would be fine, in the end. And with Sam having left them alone for a few days, besides just sometimes coming in and checking on them before leaving, he'd assumed things would be alright. At first, it had seemed like he'd be okay. His wounds had been healing and he'd started having more energy. But then his cheeks had become rosy and had only gotten more and more red as time went on. This was followed by him starting to become less aware again and he seemed to be getting hotter, though Twilight insisted he felt colder. Needless to say, Wind was concerned.

It was only once Sam came in that he felt like he could do something about it. He was honestly surprised to actually feel a bit of relief when Sam came in. As soon as the brunette's head was through the door, Wind desperately said, "Hey, we need something!"

Sam paused, then sighed and asked in exasperation, "What do you need?"

"Twilight's not doing well, I think he needs healing."

That made Sam perk up and the man walked further into the room, his eyes trained on Twilight as he said, "Why do you think that?"

Wind glanced at Twilight, unconscious as he shivered while his face and wounds were red. Turning back, he replied, "I think he looks kinda sick."

At this point Sam had pretty much reached him and Wind couldn't help but shrink back as he approached. He suddenly felt like this was a bad idea, but what else was he supposed to do to help Twi? Sam was still looking at Twilight though, and he seemed to be studying him before he grunted in affirmation, seeming to come to a conclusion.

The artist turned away and walked back to the door. Wind suddenly felt a desperation surface and yelled, "Wait! Please don't just leave him, he needs help!"  
Twilight grunted and jerked awake as Sam just kept right on going, leaving them. Wind cursed in frustration. Why'd Sam do that? He'd seemed like he might be concerned only to leave. Maybe he just didn't really want to heal him? The young sailor sighed. He should've known that asking Sam for help wouldn't be a good idea.

"Wha hapn?" Twilight asked blearily, breaking Wind from his thoughts. He turned to look at the elder Link and found him looking around groggily, though he couldn't tell if it was from his nap or from his physical well-being. The boy suddenly felt guilty. He'd woken Twi up when the man had probably needed that rest. He shook his head and said, "It's nothing, Twi, you can just go back to sleep."

Twilight seemed to accept that and let his head lull again, his eyes drooping. This honestly made Wind worry all the more. Normally Twilight would have checked that it was ok himself, but he'd just accepted Wind's word. Either he was really trusting of Wind, which he would be honored that Twi trusted him that much, or Twi was really out of it. Wind liked to believe that it was just him trusting him. But the worry was still there, gnawing on him.

"Don't go to sleep just yet."

Wind's head snapped up as Sam appeared through the door again. He'd never admit it, but he felt a rush of relief with the dread as those eyes peered at them. Sam fully walked into the room and over to them, pulling something out of his pocket as he walked in. And Wind panicked. He'd just convinced Sam to start coming back and hurting Twi again, hadn't he?! Mentally cursing himself, he yelled, "No, don't!" and kicked out at the madman's back, trying to stop him before he could hurt Twi again. He wasn't sure Twi could take anymore.

"Hey!" Sam yelled, dodging his kicks and getting out of range of them as he pulled his hand up and continued, "Do you want me to help him or not?!"

Wind's eyes caught sight of his hand and he instantly stopped. There was a fairy in a bottle. Not a knife. A fairy. He breathed a sigh of relief and pulled his feet back instantly, flushing in embarrassment. Sam gave him an irritated look and went back to Twi, who was still awake, but looking up at Sam blearily. Though even in his weakened state, he looked apprehensive. Wind was just grateful that Sam hadn't decided to go away and leave Twi to die as soon as he'd tried kicking him.

Sam popped the lid off the bottle and let the fairy fly out. Wind held his breath as it flew around Twi, his red color going back to a healthy tan and his wounds no longer looking so angry. He seemed to become more aware as it finished and took a deep breath once it was done. Then he looked up at Sam and glared. And Sam glared right back. The artist cleared his throat and said, "Well, since you seem to be all better, you could probably answer my questions now, right?"

Twilight snorted and replied, "I already told you we don't know anything, do you really want me to tell you again?"

Sam sighed and said, "If you want to do this the hard way again, I'm all for it. But it'd really be easier for all of us if you did just tell me."

Twilight scoffed, "It'd only be easier for you. Besides, can't tell you what I don't know."

"Then we'll get to try out something new," Sam growled, then spun on his heel and stomped out the door. Wind looked up at Twilight and only saw frustration and determination on his face. How was he still being like that, even after all that Sam had done to him? Wind didn't like to admit it, but he knew he'd be scared stiff if it was him in Twi's shoes. And yet Twi was still being defiant.

It didn't take long for Sam to come back down, his arms full of bottles that he unceremoniously dumped on the desk. He looked up at their cautious expressions and chuckled, "I've got a lot of things I'd like to experiment with, to see if I can get the hang of Yuga's magic. And you're going to help me."

He turned back to the desk and continued, "You'd be surprised just how much the monster people are willing to trade for a few fairies. They say they're quite tasty and can make you live longer. While I'm not sure if that's true nor do I care to find out, it does provide me with a good way of getting things that are otherwise hard to get. Especially since you both were so kind as to supply me with a fair amount."

Wind felt his stomach turn. Eat fairies? Who would do that? Well, at least some people here would, it seemed, but they sounded like they were maybe monsters, so he decided that that didn't count. Twilight looked equally disgusted.

Sam grabbed a bottle and sauntered over to them, looking smug as he saw their expressions. He halted in front of Twilight, and his look of anticipation made Wind very nervous. Just what was he planning now? The brunette pulled the lid off and rummaged around in his pocket, an exclamation of aha escaping his lips as he pulled out a stick, then put it in the bottle. He fiddled around with it for a bit before he seemed satisfied and looked back up with a sadistic grin, asking, "Are you ready?"

Twilight looked apprehensive and he gulped, not saying anything as he stared. Wind couldn't blame him. Sam seemed way too happy about whatever was in the bottle. The artist didn't wait for an answer. Pulling the stick out, they could clearly see that there was something yellow and sparking that almost looked like the tip of a spear. Wind realized just what it had to be as Sam touched it to Twi.

His back arched and he twitched as he yelled, the tip of the item being pushed off him in the process, and then fell back down. Then Sam touched him with it again, making Twi jerk once again. And Wind's guess was confirmed. He'd encountered chuchus that had shocked him and the sparks coming from the item looking just like the ones that'd shocked him. They hadn't been pleasant and this looked even more painful. Sam must have done something to it to make it shock Twi more. Or these 'monster people' had already had it that way. He shivered. He didn't ever want to meet these people. They didn't seem pleasant. As Twi cried out and Sam laughed, Wind turned his head and tried to shut it out.  
He'd tried to help at first, or at least make it harder or more unpleasant for Sam, by trying to kick him and cursing at him. But his legs hadn't been able to reach and his words seemed to have no affect. But he'd kept trying anyways, because what else could he do? And he hated to just sit there and do nothing while Twi was hurting. So he'd screamed and screamed and thrashed and thrashed, but in the end all it did was leave him with a sore throat, a hoarse voice, and sore wrists. And then he'd been exhausted and been unable to comfort Twi when he'd needed him. So, he'd decided to suck it up and be quiet as Sam did things, trying to ignore it to the best of his ability. Then he'd be there for Twi after it was all done. He felt like that was working better than protesting, at least.

But it was hard to tune out Twi's pain. Every yell, every laugh, Wind knew, would haunt his dreams that night. It'd been that way every night Sam had visited Twi, and even some of the nights he hadn't. Sometimes, in his dreams, Sam would hurt him too. But most of the time he'd hurt Twi, and Wind had to just sit there and watch. To be honest, that was worse than being hurt himself. While he wasn't physically hurting, it was so much more painful to have to sit there and watch Twi hurting with there being nothing he could do. Wind was always relieved when he woke up, because even though he was often times living those nightmares, there were also times in between, the times where things were ok, for a bit. And that honestly made it so much better than his nightmares. Twi didn't seem to have problems with sleeping, at least, but he suspected that was because he was so exhausted from all the things Sam did that he didn't really have time for dreams. Wind hoped he didn't dream of the things he did. Twi didn't need anything else making this place worse.

A particularly loud scream had his head turning back to them in time to see Twi twitching and jerking all over the place, Sam just holding his item to the elder Link's shoulder. It terrified Wind. What if Sam nearly killed him again? What if he-no, no, that wouldn't happen. Sam still wanted things from them, and even though they didn't know he'd keep them alive as long as he felt like he needed them. But just what he'd do to get what he wanted, Wind had no idea. He felt like those bottles only contained more horrors in them that he really didn't want to see. He realized the screaming had stopped and only had a moment to process that his brain seemed to think screaming was normal now before Sam stomped away with the electric item in his hand. Wind looked at Twi to find him still twitching, his head on the wall as he tried to recover. Wind gently touches one of his twitching legs and it takes Twi a second to get his body to listen to him and turn to look at him, but in the end he does it.

Wind smiled sadly at him and Twi gave him a shaky smile in return. This was the only plus. They had each other. While it sucked that both of them were in a dangerous situation, at least they could help and support each other during all this. He just hoped that he was actually helping Twi. The older boy pressed his own leg to Wind's and he took that as an invitation to scoot closer, pressing himself to his brother to the best of his ability. It seemed that they both needed the moments like this, for he could feel his accelerated heart rate, which he hadn't even known had gone up, slow down and he could see Twi's face relaxing, even as his body kept twitching, though even that was starting to fade. This time his smile was more genuine. Even though he couldn't do much, at least he could do this.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Yes, I'm finally bringing you more chapters! But first, I would like to thank the lovely Okami_no_fude (Ammy) for becoming my beta! These next two chapters are the only ones left that are already written, and Ammy has looked through them already, so now it's just up to me to get them to you guys. And I did have Ammy see if there was anything in need of fixing from previous chapters, so they been updated now that Ammy has finished looking them over. So a big thanks to Ammy for all this! It looks so much better now. ^^
> 
> Song for this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtAVWSo0RSo

Twilight jerked as someone kicked his side. Looking up he was surprised to see it was Wind, not Sam, that was the one there. Twilight gave him a questioning look and Wind pointedly looked at something past him. He turned to see only Sam there, having stormed out of the cell when his latest round of electrocutions hadn't worked. He was just rifling through the desk, and while Twilight was apprehensive about what he was looking for, he didn't see why Wind needed to point it out. The look he shot the younger boy obviously was enough to convey that as Wind rolled his eyes and pointedly looked down. Twilight followed his gaze, which was focused on the ground in a seemingly empty area. Confused, he looked harder and was surprised to see something shine at him. Further observation found it to be a key. He was surprised to see it there, but still didn't know why Wind was pointing it out. His look back at Wind had the boy throwing his head back and groaning quietly, before looking at his boots, the key, then Sam. It took Twilight a moment to process what he was trying to say, but then it clicked and he looked at the distance between him and the key. He was close enough to reach it, even with reach limited. How had the key ended up in that position?

The desk suddenly jerked, clattering the items on it, and Sam cursed, then dug through the things even more furiously. ...Well, he supposed that Sam wasn't all that calm right now, so he could imagine him throwing down the keys in anger when he was walking towards the desk. ...Why doesn't he remember that? He remembered being shocked, and then things getting a little hazy, but then it was Wind kicking him. What happened between? Had he blacked out again there? Judging from how hard Wind had actually kicked him, when he'd usually been very gentle while they were here, he guessed that was probably the case. Shifting into a better position, he held in the grunt of pain as best he could, though a little huff still escaped, then he paused to take a few breaths before reaching his leg out between the bars.

He stretched his leg, reaching for that little glint, his toe brushing it just barely. He felt around, trying to hook his toe through the ring, his muscles screaming at him as he kept stretching, enduring it, just for that little of hope that was just barely out of reach, that he was just barely touching and needed so desperately to grab-! He heard Wind clear his throat rather loudly, bringing him out of his focus and back to a world of screaming pain as he went to look at Wind questioningly, but before he could a weight was suddenly on his leg and he screamed as it was pressed down.

"Well well, what do we have here? Someone trying to escape?"

Crap, Sam was there. Wind must have been trying to warn him. He mentally kicked himself. What had he been thinking, concentrating so hard on getting the key that he hadn't been paying attention? That had been plain old stupid and he should have known better. Looking up into Sam's face, he could see the lunatic grinning devilishly at him, two bottles held in his hands. Twilight gulped and Sam's grin grew, impossibly, even wider. Then he raised his foot, and quickly brought it back down.

Twilight screamed, his already pained muscles making it even worse, and Sam laughed, stomping on his leg twice more, shooting pains up his leg, before bringing down his foot a final time. His ankle was suddenly _roaring_ with pain and it took him a second to realize that his ears were ringing because of his scream. When he was finally able to open his eyes through the pain, Sam actually looked surprised. Had he not been planning on doing that then? But then he quickly schooled his features and went back to cold and cruel as he walked around and said, "Well, you shouldn't have done that if you didn't want to get hurt."

Crouching down in front of him, Sam proceeded to open his bottles and prep what was inside. Glancing back up at him and catching him watching, Sam smiled and said, "I hate to ask again, but please tell me where the brush is."

Twilight hissed out, "I really don't know."

Sam watched him for a moment, looking like he was debating something as he watched Twilight's expression, then sighed, as he always did with that answer, and said, "Then we're going to have to start getting a bit extreme, for your stubbornness is wearing my patience thin."

Twilight watched Sam cautiously as the man reached inside one of the bottles with a tool. The man pulled it out something that looked like a small bit of ice and Twilight shivered. The glow coming off of it reminded him all too much of Snowpeak and all the times he'd been frozen there. Sam seemed to notice it and smiled, right before he dropped it. Twilight was confused until a familiar cold feeling came over his leg and he looked down to see one of his legs partially encased in ice. While it sucked that he couldn't move, he didn't really see how this was all that bad besides it being kinda cold. He looked at Sam in confusion and Sam just smiled at him mischievously, before pulling out another little ice piece and doing the same to his other leg. Honestly, Twilight was kind of grateful for that one. His ankle felt so much better with the ice on it. His breath of relief was short lived though, as Sam went to the other bottle and pulled something glowing red out of it. He instantly thought of Death Mountain and a sense of dread came over him. Just what was Sam going to do with that? The artist kneeled down beside him and said, "Now, I like to think I'm a very understanding man. You guys did a bad thing, killing my master, but I might be willing to let it go if you tell me where his brush is. I just want to make things beautiful here again, like he was going to. So really, I've got a good goal. Now, if you'd just tell me, we could all be done with this and no longer have to go through so much... trouble. What do you say?"

"...I say I might tell you if I knew where it was, but since I don't there's nothing I can do to help you."

"Ah, unfortunately, that's the wrong answer. I'm sorry, but it seems that we really are going to have to do this."

Twilight braced himself as Sam came closer, his legs jerking as he instinctively tried to get away, but he was pinned and could do nothing but sit there as his sleeve was pulled down and the red thing was placed on his bicep. It _burned,_ oh it _burned._ He only realized he'd been screaming when it was pulled back off of him. It had only been for a moment, but it had hurt _so bad_ for the short amount of time it'd been touching him. Sam scoffed and said, "Really, only a bit of time and you're already screaming? Well, let's see if we can finally break your stubbornness."

His shoulder was targeted next, and he cried out as he was burned there too. Before long, he could smell the scent of burning flesh hanging in the air and his throat was sore. But there was something else that he suddenly noticed, something else that was bothering him, his legs had been feeling numb for a while, but now his feet were starting to kind of tingle. The tingling was mostly fine, but there was the underlying stinging feeling that he wasn't as fond of. It was honestly awful, having his feet be so cold while his upper body was burning. But that was probably the point, wasn't it? He was burned again, and again, and again, and _again_ as his feet just felt worse and worse, or just didn't feel anything at all. The mix of hot and cold made him wish for his feet to take some of the heat and his burns to take some of the cold and he writhed at the horrible contrast of them. But the longer things went on, the more upset Sam seemed to get with him.

Then, finally, he snapped.

"JUST TALK ALREADY!"

The shout was accompanied by a swift movement and suddenly his face was _scorched._ The smell of burnt meat was all around him now and his world was reduced to the pain, his face throbbing the most. The smell of burnt hair began to join one of the few senses he was still using. Then, it was gone, and sweet, _sweet_ fresh air was there to replace it. It took him a moment to register the cursing, and a moment longer still to realize it wasn't at him, but at _Wind._ He was instantly alarmed and tried to get his mind to listen to the words.

"Don't you dare do anything to interfere with me again, you hear me?!"

"I wasn't just gonna sit here and let you do that y... ....ain if I have to!"

"You do and I'l... ....o don't make me do anything drastic!"

It was no use, Twilight's hearing was cutting out and everything was starting to sound far away. He tried to hold on, to make sure he could be there if Sam tried to do anything to Wind, but it was beyond his control and he was quickly swept away into darkness.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, looking at the title now, I wish I'd called it Shadows of the Tainted instead, but it's too late now and this title works too. I think it's decent. I just think the other one would have been better.
> 
> Song for this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JqY-6q-RNA

Twilight winced as he came to, his face pulsing with pain. It'd been a few days since then yet his face still hurt. Though from the way Wind was looking at him he assumed his face looked awful. But he was too afraid to ask. He didn't really want to know what he looked like right now. While he wasn't as vain as Warriors, he didn't want his face to look like a ReDead's either. All he really knew was that it hurt. A lot. At least Sam had been leaving him alone again. He had been coming down to visit them every day, but all he'd do was stare at him for a while, sometimes muttering to himself with a nervous look on his face as well, before going back up. Sam was strange, that was for sure. But at least his strangeness gave Twilight some breaks. He glanced over at Wind just in time to see the sailor looking away. He'd been doing that a lot lately and Twilight hated it. He hated that he was worrying Wind so much. They had to find some way to get out of here, and soon. Before something happened that they couldn't recover from.

Sam walked in just then and Twilight could swear that the man had some sort of mind-reading powers, for he seemed to have impeccable timing. He always came in just as he was thinking of the artist. Though, he had to admit, with them being there and having their circumstances be what they were, that probably was actually pretty likely to happen. But this time, when he looked at Sam's face, he felt a shudder go down his spine at the look of determination on his face. He gulped and tried to brace himself. There was no way that look could mean anything good. The brunette stopped on the other side of the bars, grabbing them, and said, "You say you don't know anything?"

Twilight nodded his head hesitantly. He didn't really like to open his mouth unless he needed to right now, so he decided he'd answer with as few words as possible, though eh was afraid Sam might take it the wrong way. But it hurt too much to do otherwise, so he was willing to risk it. Sam gripped the bars harder and asked, "Are you _sure?_ "

...What was he getting at? He nodded once again, even more warily. Sam sighed and slammed his hands into the bars, turning and pacing in a circle, before glancing back up at him. Twilight took that opportunity to glance over at Wind, who was looking just as wary and curious as he was. What was going on?

Sam looked at him a moment, then kicked out at the bars, making the boys jump back, and screamed, "BUT YOU HAVE TO KNOW! **I _need_ this!**"

He stormed around, kicking things, then went over to the desk and flung things onto the ground. He stood there for a moment, his fists clenched and his chest heaving, before he took a few deep breaths, slowly calming himself. After he seemed to have gotten a hold of himself, he turned back to them and, his face hardened, and he said, "Then this will prove it, one way or another."

He rifled through a drawer, then pulled out an item they hadn't seen for a while, but Twilight still couldn't hold back the bit of fear he felt from seeing it. A knife. Sam turned back towards them, advancing to them, and Twilight backpedaled for a second before he stopped himself. He didn't know what was going to happen, but his instincts were _screaming_ at him that this was not going to be good.

But as the door was unlocked, Twilight felt his heart _stop_ as Sam came in but didn't go towards him. He was heading for _Wind._ They were both too stunned by the sudden turn this had taken for them to do anything as Sam uncuffed the boy and then held his hands behind his back, pulling him around in front of Twilight. They stared at each other with wide eyes, before Sam's menacing glare caught his attention. "This is the last time I'll ask. Where is the brush?"

Twilight's mouth felt dry, his body was battered, his face hurt something fierce, but suddenly none of that mattered as his whole world was reduced to Wind, looking at him with pure _terror_ on his face. He'd seen what Sam had done to Twilight. He knew what kind of things were coming his way. And suddenly, Twilight couldn't hold any words in even as his face twinged from the movement. "NO! **Leave him alone, we don't know anything I swear!** _Please_ you can do anything you want to me just leave him alone! Don't hurt him!"

Sam stared him in the face as he paused, hoping his words would reach the man. And he actually looked contemplative, like he might be considering that he was telling the truth. Then Sam sat back, relaxing a bit, as he smiled.

"I have to make sure you're telling the truth."

Twilight felt his heart drop to his stomach as Sam suddenly jumped into action, the knife coming up and stabbing into Wind's stomach. His scream of "No!" was drowned out by Wind's own scream of pain. Wind writhed away from the knife as Sam pulled it out of him, then stabbed back into his hip. Both of them screamed as he stabbed his shoulder, his leg, his arm, his side again, though one was doing so in pain and the other in horror. Finally Twilight yelled, "ENOUGH! I'LL TELL YOU ALL I KNOW! JUST >em>STOP!"

Sam paused, knife raised to strike again, as he looked at Twilight with a surprised, "Oh?"

"All I know is that we're traveling with a group of heroes and that that sounds a lot like some of them! I don't know which of us could have done it, but I know that it wasn't me or Wind, so _please,_ just _stop._ "

Sam stared at him, processing, before he set down his knife and said, "Then you really don't know anything, if that's the case. But I like to make sure of things before I just accept them."

"No, please-!"

Sam took Wind's leg, the boy too hurt to do anything to protest, and put it between the bars. Then he shoved. And the snap was very easy to hear. As was the tortured scream that followed it. It took Twilight a second to realize that he'd been screaming too. Sam smirked, then got to his feet and said, "I believe you," before walking out of the cell, knife in hand, and to the desk.

Twilight was instantly looking at Wind, poking him gently with his foot while whispering desperately, "Wind, Wind, are you still with me?"

He held his breath as Wind didn't respond, but then the boy groaned, shifting slightly, and croaked, "I am." Twilight took in a shaky breath, relief overwhelming him. Wind was still alive. Twilight glanced back up at Sam, who was on the other side of the desk, going through the stuff that remained on top of it. He looked back down at Wind, who's eyes were closed, and poked him again, saying, "Hey, I need you awake." 

"Am."

"Aware, then."

Wind cracks his eye open, looking up at him tiredly and with pain shining in his eyes. He looks past the boy, then back to him, and says, "I need you to get me my necklace."

Wind's face crinkled in vague confusion.

"Just get it for me."

Grunting, he slowly turned over, hissing quietly as he moved. Sam glanced at him once, before disregarding him and turning back. Seemed he didn't care Wind was moving with how badly he was hurt. It made Twilight so _angry._ And suddenly, that was all he could think about. All the things Sam had done to him. All that he'd just done to _Wind._ Especially when Twilight was supposed to _protect him._ He couldn't stand that Sam had done all this to them, reduced them to this.

Wind had finally gotten into a good position and was reaching out to their things, grabbing something weakly, then slowly raising his hand with his prize over his shoulder, too weak to roll back over. Twilight couldn't reach it, so he gestured to his lap and the boy put it down. He wasn't sure if it would work like this, since he had never tried, but he tried nonetheless. And then, he felt the change come over him, the all too familiar feeling of shifting, as his body became furry.

And as his now smaller wrists slipped out of the cuffs, he felt the anger _roar_ through him. Flipping onto this feet, he looked up to see Sam looking over at them, startled, then alarmed. And yes, he _should_ be alarmed. He _should_ fear him. He was going to _make him pay._ With a ferocious snarl, he dashed forward as Sam started to run, leaping onto his back and going for his neck. His teeth clamped down on flesh as Sam gave a strangled yelp in terror. And then he couldn't hold back. The animal in him told him to _tear him apart_ and he didn't have the will to say no to it. So he tore and tore and tore and _tore_ into the one that had done all this to them. His blood roared in his ears and his face hurt as his movements pulled at it, but he didn't care so long as they _paid._

"Link... Please..."

Something broke through his anger and he halted. He knew that voice.

"That's it... C'mon Twilight...."

He let go. That familiar voice was full of pain and youth. Two things that should never mix.

"Wolfie.... Twilight... Please..."

He looked at Wind. The boy's eyes were pleading with him. He was hurting. And he hated this place. Twilight knew the feeling all too well. They should go. Right now. He padded over to the sailor, shifting back and spitting the blood out of his mouth as he knelt by the boy. Wind looked back at him and smiled weakly.

"You're back."

He gave him a wobbly smile in return, fighting to keep down tears at the poor boy's condition.

"I am. Thank you."

Then he picked him up as gently as he could.

It wasn't gentle enough.

Wind cried out as he was moved and all Twilight could do was hold him close to wait for the pain to subside. He tried moving him carefully, but Wind always whimpered no matter what he did, so he made the hard choice and just moved him swiftly, making it to the desk as he cried out, tears leaking from his eyes. Twilight whispered an, "I'm sorry," as he set the boy down as gently as he could.

He left him there for a moment, going to their pile of discarded things and ignoring the majority of it for now, making a beeline for their bags. He rifles through them, making a disappointed noise when all he finds is a single bottle of blue potion. Had Sam seriously taken the rest of their healing items? He had mentioned giving fairies to ‘monster people’, so that could explain it. He sighs as he takes it and rejoins Wind, uncorking it and putting it to his lips. The boy drinks a bit before Twilight pulls it away, bringing it down to Wind’s leg. He grimaces at the unnatural angle his leg is at, then says a quick, “Brace yourself,” right before he holds his leg in the right place and pours the potion on it. Wind gives a muffled scream as his bones start trying to mend themselves, holding on tightly to anything he can get his hands on.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry. It’ll be over soon,” Twilight soothes as he pours the majority of the potion on it.

He stops pouring and Wind goes limp, panting as he tries to compose himself. Twilight grimaces at his leg. It certainly looked better, but it definitely wasn’t fully healed yet. He looked back at the bottle. There wasn’t all that much left. There was no way he could heal it even with the rest of the potion. Wind would just have to deal with it, unfortunately. And Wind’s leg wasn’t the only part of him hurt, it was just the part of him that looked the worst and was the most hindering. Shifting slightly, he begins trickling the rest of the potion onto his cuts, only to find a hand stopping him partway through. He follows the hand to Wind, who’s shaking his head and saying weakly, “Don’t use it all on me. You need some too.”

“But-“

“You can’t help me if you’re unwell too, right?”

“...Right.”

Because as much as he didn’t want to admit it, as much as he wanted Wind to just _get better,_ the boy was right. So he lifted the potion to his face and turned his head to the side, bracing himself before pouring a bit onto his cheek. Oh it _burned._ But he grit his teeth and withstood it. If Wind could be so strong about this he could be too. After that was done he inspected the bottle and found only a tiny bit left. It wouldn’t be good for much, but it could at least help a little. He poured a few drops on each hand, internally wincing at it, before he went down on one knee and poured the little bit that remained on his leg and foot. It stung, but he could handle it and soon he felt a million times better. Wind looked a fair bit better too. Going over to the boys, he asks, “Can you stand?”

Wind shifts, going to sit up straighter, then winces once his foot touches the ground and glumly says, “No.”

Twilight smiles and says, “That’s alright. I’ll carry you.”

Wind frowns, but doesn’t protest as Twilight goes over and takes him onto his back. He’s surprised at first, but then suddenly understands. They’ll get out of there faster if he just goes along with it. That realization makes him frown. He never wanted Wind to be scarred by this place too. With Wind on his back, he realizes in their haste to get out of there they nearly forgot something. He quickly goes back to their pile of things and gathers them up, jostling Wind a bit as he does so, but in the end he’s able to get it all and then they’re running up the stairs, going through the doorway, which is surprisingly actually a bookcase, and past the rest of the things to head out the door. When they get outside, it’s dark, it’s bleak, everything is pretty much monochrome. But they’re _out._ He takes a deep breath. The air is fresh. There’s no smell of blood and no lingering feeling of suffering. They’re _free._ And now, they can finally try and get home. Get to their brothers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of this arc! That's also all I've got so far, so now you guys will have to wait until I've done the live writes and had them looked over by both me and Ammy before you guys will get them, sorry. ^^ But hey, now this means you can join in on the live writes I do if you're like me and need to read things in order.
> 
> Also, I'm going to be taking a little break from writing this. It probably won't be very long, because I love writing this, especially when there are so many nice people supporting it, but I do feel like I need that little break. So I'm thinking I'll probably do a little fluffy one-shot before I get back into the swing of things for this. But don't worry, I got a lot more in store for this fic. :) Thanks for reading and I'll see you after the break!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hah, uh, hi guys, sorry for being gone for so long. and for not posting this closer to the time I wrote it. but I needed a bit of a break, especially to do school work, so I took some time away from this and focused on that. But now I'm back and have got this ready for you.

Twilight heard Wind take a deep breath as well and he smiled. Yeah, they were out. The only thing they had to do now was find a way home. Which might be hard, but hey, at least they had a chance of doing that now. But they wouldn't find it by staying here, and the further away he got from this place, the better they'd feel. So he placed one foot in front of the other and started off.

As he walked, he found himself continuing to breath deeply. It was amazing just how much better he felt with just being out of that place. It was nice, having the quiet to just think and revel in their escape. Just the crunch of gravel and dead plants under his boots as he walked and the steady presence of Wind on his back in this calm hush. His thoughts couldn't help but go back though. He hadn't intended to kill Sam when he'd formed his escape plan, but he'd just been so angry that he hadn't been able to help himself, especially as a wolf. His protective instincts had really helped push him to maul the man, but honestly, he didn't find himself feeling too bad about it. Maybe, if they'd met in different circumstances, they could have been friends, but that hadn't been the case and he frankly felt the artist had gotten what he deserved. He still felt a little guilty for letting himself go out of control like that though. Wind had had to really try to bring him back to himself, it seemed. 

"So, you're Wolfie."

Twilight sighed. Should have known this was coming. But he'd rather have his secret known than have let anything else happen.

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell us before?"

"I..." he took a breath, "because of the way I do it. I use shadow magic to do it and I wasn't sure how everyone would react."

"Magic? The guy who hates using it? Really?"

Twilight could hear the playful lilt to Wind’s voice and he chuckled, replying, "Yes, really. But it's part of the reason I hate magic. My necklace has a thing on it called a shadow crystal that was originally used to curse me into a wolf form with no way to turn back. Luckily, the Master Sword was able to turn me back and make it safe for me to use whenever I needed it. But I've still had bad experiences with magic, so I prefer not to use magic when I can."

"Oh.... Okay."

Twilight laughed, "Okay? That's it?"

A little chuckle sounds behind him before he's answered, "Well, yeah. What else do you want me to say? I mean, I think it's really cool that you can turn into a wolf! And while we were wary around your wolf form at first, we now really like 'Wolfie.' That's just... really cool. Is there anything else you can do that you've been hiding?"

"Well, while I'm a wolf I can talk to animals."

"SERIOUSLY?! That's so cool!" Wind gasps and adds, "Wait, is that why you don't like to hunt even though you have a wolf pelt?"

Twilight chuckles. Wind is taking this better than he thought he would. "Yeah. It's harder for me to hurt them knowing that they're intelligent."

"Huh. I would have thought you'd become a vegetarian then."

"Heh, well, I do still turn into a _wolf_ , so I'm okay with it. Just not if Wild's trying to get meat we don't need."

"Huh, okay. That makes sense."

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

Wind sounded genuinely confused.

"Is there anything you've been hiding?"

"Oh. ...Well, I can control the wind with a magic baton."

Twilight stumbled a bit before he collected himself and replied, "You're not kidding? A magic baton? Seriously?"

"Yeah! I just have to play the right notes and then the wind will go where I need it. It's really helpful when sailing the Great Sea."

"Hm, I bet. That sounds like an interesting magic item."

Twilight heard Wind drawing in a breath to say something, but then he heard something else and stopped, causing Wind to instead say, "What? Why'd we stop?"

"I hear water."

Wind stilled and Twilight assumed he was listening too. Now that Wind was being quiet, he could hear it more clearly. It was then that he realized his throat was parched. A drink of water sounded lovely right about now. He headed towards the sound, a little glimmer of light on water catching his eye. As he approached though, his excitement wore off a bit. The water was dark and brackish, not something that looked like it should be drunk. Wind seemed to feel the same as he said, "Er, that water doesn't look good."

"Yes, but we can still put our things on and get some water to boil."

It would be fine if they boiled it, right? Well, it had to be, because they didn't have many options right now. Approaching the water made it look even more unappealing, but Twilight tried to ignore it as he crouched down and slid Wind from his back onto a rock. The boy grunted as he landed and Twilight turned around quickly, looking him over. Wind just pouted at him and Twilight gave him an apologetic smile and backed off. Wind would tell him if he needed help or if anything hurt too bad. At least he hoped the young sailor would. Wind knew his own limits, right? Trying to shake off the worry, Twilight grabbed his stuff and started putting his things back on as Wind put his own bag back on his hip. As Twilight got his chain mail back on, he grunted. He didn't remember his things being this heavy. And he hadn't even gotten it all back on yet. Though he had been stuck in a cell for a while, so that probably didn't help. As he continued to get the rest of his things on he felt eyes on him, watching him as he winced when he pulled on his wounds. When he had finally secured the last strap, he sighed and turned in it's direction, saying, "What is it?"

Wind startled as if he hadn't realized what he'd been doing, then blinked a few times before asking, "How are you?"

Twilight didn't know what he was expecting the boy to say, but it wasn't that. He quirked an eyebrow, because how did Wind think he was feeling, and said, "What?"

Wind looked him over and elaborated, "You were wincing. So you must still be hurting. And..."

His gaze traveled to Twilight's face and lingered. Ah, yeah. The one side of his face probably didn't look the best. Didn't feel great either, after he'd stretched the burn, but if he was being honest with himself, he actually didn't feel all that bad right now. He shrugged in reply, "I'm doing about as well as I could be, under the circumstances. What about you? You were the one hurt today."

He couldn't help but look down at the sailor's leg. It wasn't at that horrible angle anymore, but it was still swollen and he was sure it still hurt. Wind sighed and said, "Yeah, we're both kinda messed up right now, huh?"

Twilight laughed, "Yeah, we are."

With all his stuff on, he pulled out a container and went over to the river. It really did look gross. But hey, it was what they had. So he plunged his hand in to fill the container. And oh, _ugh_ , it felt so gross and, somehow, _slimy_. How could water feel slimy? He left his hand in for as long as he could, but as soon as that bottle was about full he yanked his hand out and put a cap on it. Yeah, the water here didn't seem to be that great.

"Something wrong?" the boy behind him asked. He put the container away and shook his hand off, grimacing as he said, "The water feels really _gross_. Like, almost slimy. It's really weird."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure we should drink it then?"

"Not much choice. Besides, boiling water usually takes out all the bad stuff in it."

"Yeah, well, that's usually. Who knows if things work the same way in Lorule."

Twilight looked at Wind and said, "Are you trying to make things worse for us?"

The boy shrugged and said, "I'm just not sure I wanna try this water."

Twilight sighed and replied, "Well, we've been fine up until now. I'm sure it'll be ok. I mean, people have been surviving here for a while, and they've got to drink something."

Wind snorted, then opened his mouth. But instead of retorting, he yawned, and Twilight chuckled. Yeah, it'd been a tiring day. With them all set up, he walked back over to Wind and said, "You ready to go?"

Wind sighed, but replied, "Yeah, let's get out of here."

A sentiment Twilight could share. Bending down, he helped Wind get back onto his back, adjusting him to make it more comfortable. Then they were off. As he walked, he was perfectly fine with the quiet, but then Wind asked something that made his heart ache.

"So," Wind yawned, "Anything else you haven't shared?"

There was something, but he wasn't sure he wanted to share it with Wind. At least, not yet. It was still too personal. He hesitantly shook his head. Wind continued, "I've got something I don't usually share. It makes me sad. But I think... I think I should share it now."

Twilight's ears perked at that and Wind went on, "I had... a mentor. He found me after I tried to save my sister and failed. He taught me a lot. He was strict, but he cared and he just wanted what was best for us. And that's why... and that's why... that's why I think he left. He stayed in his home to not tie us to the past, so that we could make a better future. I didn't really understand it back then, but I think I do now. But.... I still miss him."

Twilight felt his heart sink as Wind talked. He'd lost someone dear to him. Now didn't that sound familiar? It also sounded very personal and he was honestly touched Wind trusted him enough to tell him all this. It made him feel horrible that he hadn't wanted to share his own personal heartache with the boy. Something he decided to rectify. He took a breath to steady himself, then forged on and said, "I'm, sorry. I bet he really cared for you. But, I'm also sorry that I wasn't honest with you just now. You shared something personal with me when I didn't want to share my own woes with you."

"Twi, you don't have to if you don't want to. I wanted to, so I shared. If you aren't ready-"

"No, I think I should. I've been holding it in too long and I trust you. I... I had a companion on my own journey. She freed me from the dungeon, which is why I have a manacle on my leg as Wolfie. But she was really annoying at first, always ordering me around and not giving me a break, yet as we kept going she started to become nicer and, well, she grew on me. It was just, nice, having someone there that understood since she'd been with me the whole time. And then, in the end, we confronted Ganondorf and... he had her mask, something she always wore. I thought he'd killed her. Yet after I'd defeated him, she was there, alive and in her true form. And... I don't know what I felt, honestly. I'm still unsure how I feel about her. I just... I know that she was at least my friend but....... Well, it doesn't really matter anymore, because once our journey was over she had to go back to her world. And to keep both our worlds safe, she... she broke the only pathway between them. And now, I'll never see her again."

It was quiet for a while after that, but Twilight was grateful. It gave him a chance to breathe and pull himself back together. Though after it was quiet for a while, he started wondering if Wind had fallen asleep, until the boy said, "I'm sorry, too. It's hard, to lose someone you care for. Especially when they were with you through everything."

Twilight took another shaky breath and said, "Yeah. I'm glad to have known her, though."

He felt movement on his back, then Wind replied, "Yeah, me too. We won't ever forget them, right?"

Twilight weakly chuckled, "We won't."

Then they fell into a comfortable silence. It was nice, having that all off his chest. He assumed Wind felt the same. They'd been through things, lost people they loved, but they were still here, fighting, and they could remember those that were no longer with them. As Twilight walked on, Wind seemed to almost get heavier and he tried looking over his shoulder to see what was going on. Then he smiled softly and turned his eyes back to the road. He knew the boy was tired, and he needed the rest after his ordeal today, so Twilight would be glad to let him sleep as long as he could. He walked on for a while, alone with his thoughts, when his leg started to ache. He was able to ignore it at first, but as time went on his arms joined in and his leg worsened. He knew he couldn't go much farther when his torso decided to act up too. He was better, but he wasn't all the way healed. It was when he saw a tree that was actually still standing, even though it didn't have any leaves on it, that he decided this would be a good enough place to stay for a bit. Stopping, he wiggled Wind a bit and said, "Hey, Wind."

The boy groaned and shifted, but that was it. He sighed, then wiggled him again and said, "Wind, c'mon, I need you to wake up."

He moved again, then groggily said, "Wha'?"

"We're stopping for a bit."

As Wind shifted around a bit more, Twilight crouched down and slid him off, earning himself a yelp of surprise from the boy and an indignant, "Hey!"

Twilight sighed, the weight being gone making him feel better, and sat down heavily beside the sailor. Wind was eyeing him now, and said, "You okay?"

"Yeah, just a bit tired. Needed to rest."

Wind continued watching him for a bit, but seemed to take his answer and left it at that. Twilight leaned back and took a moment to just catch his breath. He was also hurting, but Wind didn't need to know that. Besides, the boy had probably already figured that part out. It's not like either of them were in the best shape right now. Wind took the opportunity to lean back and rest too, yawning as he did so and making Twilight feel guilty. He hadn't wanted to wake the sailor up, he'd just needed a break and hadn't wanted to just drop Wind while he was sleeping. Seeing the boy rubbing his eyes solidified that guilt and he found himself saying, "Why don't you go back to sleep."

Wind looked at him with tired, curious eyes. Twilight gave him a reassuring smile and said, "I figured we could rest here for a bit. I'll keep watch."

The boy yawned again, looking even more sleepy, and nodded as he leaned back on the tree and made himself more comfortable.

Twilight smiled softly as he watched Wind try and get settled, then turned his attention to the large expanse around them. This world honestly wasn't as bad looking as he'd originally thought. Sure, it still looked like an awful place to live, but he'd seen worse now and could honestly say that this was ten times better than being locked up in a basement. It's no wonder people didn't want to be locked up, cause even if the world was not the best at least you had your freedom. He drew himself out of his thoughts and shook his head. He should be on guard, not zoning out. He licked his lips and tried to get himself to focus, but then found that licking his lips had been a mistake. He was so thirsty. He brought his hand down to his container and pulled it out, considering. If they were going to stay here anyway, then it'd probably be a good time to start boiling the water. Pulling out the things he'd need and breaking a few branches off their tree, he assembled them together and took a moment to light the fire. With that done, he set a metal dish on the fire and then proceeded to pour the water into it. And now, all he had to do was sit back and wait.

So that's what he did. As he was watching, he felt a weight on his shoulder and looked over only to smile softly. Wind was now laying on him, his head on the elder's shoulder. Twilight watched him for a bit before hesitantly laying his head on the boy's head, making sure his burn didn't touch him. This was nice. Just them, out in the open again, not having to worry about someone coming over and hurting them any minute. It was... peaceful. Twilight felt himself sinking into the quiet softness and let himself just not think for a bit. He was tired, but more than anything, he was relieved. He'd been beginning to think that they'd never get out of there, and now they were on their way to finding a way back to the others.

Twilight hadn't realized he was falling asleep too until the crackle of dead plants reached his ears and he jerked back to awareness. Looking around hurriedly, he stopped when he spied the source. It was a... deer? Maybe? Maybe that's what Lorule deer looked like? Because he couldn't think of another word to describe it. It did have antlers, though they looked like the branches of the tree he was resting on. And it did have the same body shape. It just... seemed more... feral? He couldn't really describe it, but he got this otherworldly feeling from it. He snorted. Of course he did, they were in another world.

It watched him for a moment, then took off. He watched it go before taking in his surroundings again. And realized that the water had probably started boiling long ago. Gently moving Wind's head from his shoulder to the tree, he peeled himself away, the boy shifting a bit in protest, and hurried over to the fire. Well, it should definitely be purified now. Pulling it off the heat, and nearly burning himself in the process, he poured some of it into a smaller container and took a sip. Oh man, was it hot! But it tasted like normal water. He was relieved. He'd been worried that boiling it wouldn't actually get rid of the weirdness, but it seemed like it'd done the job. He took a few more sips, but then had to set it down. He was thirsty, but it was just too hot right now. He'd have to let it cool down before he drank any more.

And then his stomach rumbled. He sighed. Of course. And he'd seen that he didn't have anything left to eat in his bag. He glanced in the direction the deer thing had gone. Maybe they could eat that? Well, it was worth a shot. Getting up, he glanced back at Wind. Should he really leave the sailor here alone? Well, he was sure the boy would be hungry when he woke up. So it'd be good to get food for him too. And he was sure that it'd be alright for the little bit he'd be gone. ...At least, he hoped it would be. He'd just have to be quick. Deciding to just go for it, he let the change come over him and morphed into a wolf. He'd probably have better luck tracking and taking it down like this. Shaking out the remnants of his change, he started off in the direction he'd last seen it.

He pressed his nose to the ground, quickly identifying its scent without a bunch of other ones there to get in the way, and followed the trail. It hadn't actually gone very far. But as soon as he could see it, it was lifting its head up and looking around. It was _really_ alert. Any time he tried getting closer it would look around. It was no wonder this thing had survived this long. But right now, it was either it living or them living and Twilight wasn't going to waste this, because who knew how long it would take for them to find something else to eat. He slowly, oh so painfully slowly, made progress. It was taking so long to get even remotely close to it, but they _needed_ the food. Then, finally, after what felt like forever, he was in leaping range. He waited until it didn't seem to be as alert, then, took his chance and _jumped_!

Only to feel his injured leg twinge and give out under him, messing up his jump and distracting him with the pain. That was all the creature needed to take off, only having a small scrape on its leg from his last-ditch effort to salvage the situation to show for their encounter. " _No!_ " he growled at it, but it was already gone, not sticking around to give any sort of answer. He'd _lost it_. And now, it'd be warier. There was no way he'd be able to get it now. Especially if his leg was gonna mess him up anytime he tried catching anything. Growling, he resigned himself to going back to Wind. He'd wanted to return with something for a good meal, but instead, he'd wasted all this time when he could have been doing something else and had left the boy alone. He snorted at himself. Yeah, this had been smart. He should have just stayed with the boy. And then he heard raised voices. From Wind's direction. Oh, _he should have stayed._

He took off as soon as the sounds reached his ears, his heart pumping and blood singing. How could he have been so _stupid_? He'd known this place was dangerous, and yet he'd left Wind there, all alone, _sleeping_. He should have at least woken up the boy, but he'd wanted to let him rest! Spotting a group of people around the tree, he growled as he burst past them, making them shout in shock, and stood in front of a now awake and scared Wind. He turned and growled at them, showing his fangs and letting them know just what they'd be getting if they tried to hurt the boy. They seemed to get the message, backing off a bit at his presence. Now, he could get a better look at them. They were dressed in robes and wearing these strange masks, with not a lick of skin showing on any of them. They whispered amongst each other for a moment, seeming like they were trying to figure out what to do, then one of them stepped forward and said, "How did you do it, boy?"

Twilight didn't dare turn to look at Wind, for fear of them doing something while he wasn't looking, but he could guess that Wind looked just as confused as he felt. A second later, Wind asked, "What?"

"How did you do it?"

"Do... what?"

The masked man pointed to Twilight, who growled louder in response, and clarified, "How did you tame it?"

This made Twilight snort. He was no tame beast. Wind replied, "I didn't. He's just my friend."

The masked people watched the two for a moment, then the one that seemed to be their leader said, "That's not possible."

"What do you mean it's not possible?" Wind sounded a bit offended.

"Beasts cannot befriend intelligent creatures."

Twilight's growl rose at that. He'd talked to plenty of animals that were smart! Wind seemed to be just as offended and answered, "Yes they can! Wolfie's my friend and he's a beast!"

They stared at the duo again, before the leader nodded and said, "I see. You must have found some way to do it then."

He looked between the two again, as if contemplating something. Twilight didn't like the feeling he was getting from these guys and tensed, ready for action if need be. Then the leader spoke again.

"We were going to sacrifice you, but I've got a better idea now. One that I think will please Miss Karen."

Twilight felt his stomach drop. They had been planning on _sacrificing_ Wind?! Oh, yeah, these guys were bad news. Whatever they wanted, Twilight was not letting them have. He heard Wind pull in a breath behind him. They were _not_ getting their hands on Wind. He'd rather die than let that happen. The leader turned to the group and said, "Let's take them. They should please our god."

 _What?! No!_ Twilight snarled viciously at them as they pulled out pipes and held them to a slit in their masks. Wind yelped in surprise and fear, and Twilight decided to make the first move. He lunged, this time expecting his leg to hurt and pushing through it, going for the leader and biting into his arm. The man yelped and stumbled back as Twilight heard whooshing go by him. He let go of the man and jumped back, glancing at Wind to see some little darts had hit their mark. He watched as Wind's eyes closed and the boy slumped. And he felt that rage from earlier return. _How dare they hurt Wind!_

Twilight whirled on them, letting out a howl of _fury_ , because they were _not going to touch his brother_ , and then charged at them. He rammed into the leader's leg, making him fully fall over this time, then jumped at the next person, grabbing their arm and yanking on them, pulling them over and blocking the shots the rest were trying to get off. But they were shaking and scared. Their aim wasn't the best right now and he intended to use that against them. Dashing to the next one, he grabbed it's leg and pulled, taking the man's leg out from under him and making him fall.

"Get it!" he heard the leader yell. The man must have recovered from his fall. Leaping away just in time to avoid their shots, which had become more accurate now that their leader was taking charge, darn it, he turned his sights to the leader again. If he could take that man out, they might fall apart again and he'd stand a chance of getting Wind out of here. Jumping at their leader, the man gave an undignified yelp of fear, making Twilight grin as he bit the man's shoulder. He was learning. The weight with the pain was too much for the leader and he fell down with a yell, probably tired of falling over by now, but Twilight would fix that for him. Gripping the mask, he pulled it away to reveal a completely human face underneath. It caused him only a second's pause, before he went for the throat. He'd already figured out that humans could be just as vicious as monsters. He wasn't going to spare him just because he was human.

As his teeth sunk in and the man tried yelling for help, he felt something hit his shoulder. He ignored it in favor of ending this man, but as he tried to finish it, he found that instead of biting down harder, he was actually relaxing. What was going on? Suddenly feeling off-balance and relaxed, he found his grip loosening and found himself starting to slump, feeling tired. _What was going on?_ He numbly felt them heave him to the side, off of their leader, who gasped and sat up, scrambling to get away from him. Twilight gave a tired smirk. At least the man knew to fear him now. They fussed over their leader while the others started tying up Twilight's paws. His hearing was going fuzzy and his vision was going blurry, but he knew he heard raised voices and saw them picking up Wind, before hearing, "We'll let Miss Karen decide what to do with the nasty beast!"

He couldn't stay conscious any longer, and was out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and there we have it, the beginning of the next arc! and boy, is it gonna be fun. :D also, the sacrificing thing was actually supposed to be something else, but the LU discord doesn't allow that sort of thing, so I decided to make it something more pg. though this isn't really pg either.
> 
> *hint* the word instead of sacrifice was going to be eat. :D I just wanted to make them really horrible people. but I think I like this a bit better, actually, so alls well that ends well.


End file.
